This invention relates to breakwaters and more particularly to an improved breakwater system for damping incoming wave energy to reduce harmful effects of incoming waves on the bottom, adjacent shore and the like.
The use of the breakwaters for the protection of shore area and the damping of incoming wave action is well known in the art. The most common breakwater is the barrier type which is in effect a solid wall situated offshore extending from the bottom to above the air water interface. This type of breakwater acts as a wall against which the energy of the incoming waves is expended so that the water area on the landward side of the breakwater remains relatively calm and the shore area is relatively protected against battering and erosion by wave action. This type of breakwater by its very nature interferes with normal currents which, under the proper circumstances, can result in increased erosion at the margins of the breakwater and may result in undue silting on the leeward side of the breakwater. In addition, breakwaters of this type require constant care and maintenance because of the force of the incoming waves and because the normal currents acting against the breakwater will in time erode away the base of the breakwater which will result in damage to the breakwater.
Other types of breakwaters have been devised in an attempt to avoid the massive construction generally required for barrier type breakwaters. These are normally of the floating barrier type in which a buoyant body or plurality of buoyant bodies acting at the air-water interface serve to dampen the wave height, thereby to produce an area of relatively calm water behind the breakwater. Although such devices may operate satisfactory in moderate seas, they are normally of insufficient strength to withstand very heavy seas, particularly in shallow water where wave action is most severe and it can be expected that substantial repair and replacement of the buoyant bodies will be required after a period of heavy seas. In addition such devices require relatively complex mooring systems to retain the floating breakwater in position.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing deficiencies with the prior art devices and provides a breakwater system effective for damping incoming waves without interferring with normal tidal and offshore currents.